Water Department trying to balance state, resident, system needs

Frank Mand fmand@wickedlocal.com @frankmandOCM

Wednesday

Sep 20, 2017 at 6:00 AM

Wherever you live if you have town water coming out of the tap you are part of a town-wide system and when there are problems – wherever they occur – they are your problems. So as the town prepares to extend its municipal water system into central and southern Plymouth residents who now use well water are asking themselves, is this a club they want to join?

PLYMOUTH – Wherever you live, if you have town water coming out of the tap, you are part of a town-wide system. And when there are problems – wherever they occur – they are your problems.

So as the town prepares to extend its municipal water system into central and southern Plymouth, residents who now use well water are asking themselves, is this a club they want to join?

That’s the issue facing approximately 300 residents along the route of the mains that would take water from two new wells that have been proposed: one associated with its location within the Forges Field recreation area, the other on 200 acres of conservation land located between Plymouth South High School and Clarke Road just off Exit 3.

If and when the new wells are installed, and new mains installed that connect to the entire system, should they tie-in? Will they have a choice?

On one hand residents with wells and septic tanks know full well the problems associated with on-site systems: especially in South Plymouth minerals in the water often lead to deteriorating pipes in the home and water pressure is often less than desirable.

But are better pressure and consistent quality enough?

And what if you will not have the opportunity to tie-in but still live within the “cone of influence?” of the proposed wells?

Will the new wells have a negative effect on your private well? How will the hundreds of millions of gallons pumped out of the ground effect the ponds, the groundwater, the aquifer itself?

Even if there will be no discernible effects on ponds, groundwater or wells now, if these wells are part of a town-wide system will they be vulnerable in the future?

Make no mistake this proposed expansion is motivated in large part by problems with the system, specifically the lack of sufficient redundancy.

Last year the town faced a water emergency: not because there was not enough water but because, as DPW Director Jonathan Beder explained then, the town was “backed in to a corner.”

The system was in relatively good shape in terms of the water that was available, but when the level in West Plymouth’s Darby Pond dipped below the 121.5 foot level the state Department of Environmental Protection required the town to reduce its daily withdrawals 225,000 gallons per day and to operate the pumps there for no more than four hours per day.

That nearly 475,000-gallon daily loss would have reduced flow out of residential faucets in that pressure zone to a trickle so the town had to supplement the water needs in one part of town from other pressure zones.

Technically that’s not a problem, in the short term. But in the long-term that can put a dangerous burden on equipment, especially pumps.

The only way to be able to shut down those pumps is to reduce demand and the only way to do that is to limit use.

“We have a phenomenal supply of water,” Beder said last year. “We are sitting on tons of water, so ordinarily a voluntary restriction would be all that we would ask for. But because of the drop at Darby we are backed into a corner.”

So the two new wells the town is proposing are part of the solution. But are they also a problem?

The Old Colony took residents’ concerns directly to DPW Director Beder this past week and he did his best to offer assurances that the system that will eventually be built will not negatively affect existing wells in the area, nearby ponds, or flow downstream.

First Beder acknowledged that the prime beneficiary of this proposed expansion will be West Plymouth and the downtown area. If the new wells are installed the system will have more water to offer new developments – especially commercial developments – and a level of redundancy that will ensure that those areas will not be vulnerable (in most scenarios) to drought or equipment failure.

“Our average daily demand doubles during the summer months,” Beder told the Old Colony, “especially in July and August we can’t pull water quickly enough out of the ground to meet demand.”

So the town makes what they call “inter-basin transfers,” shifting water from one pressure zone to another and, usually, no one notices.

But with the proposed wells and mains moving to the central and southern parts of town a number of individuals and neighborhood associations are sounding the alarm: their homes are in environmentally sensitive areas, on vulnerable ponds, and source waters for rivers such as the Agawam and the Eel.

“We are definitely aware of the other concerns,” Beder then continued, “and have already heard from a number of individuals and organizations.

“The Six Ponds Association, the Eel River Watershed Association, and others have all expressed their concerns about the effects of the proposed wells,” Beder said. “All I can really say now is we are assessing those potential effects.

“What we have done, so far, is put in test wells, and are doing draw-down testing, modeling, that will show the impacts at various levels,” Beder told the Old Colony.

“For example, if we take 1.5 million gallons per day from the well near Clarke Road, what will the impacts be on the local kettle ponds?

“When we have that data we will be able to sit down with residents. If it’s too great of an impact, we can either mitigate that effect, or try to find a number that satisfies all parties.”

Beder wants residents to know that this is not a “take it or leave it” proposal.

“If we can’t take enough water because of the impacts on the ponds to make it economically feasible than we won’t even move forward,” Beder said.

Beder says he doesn’t anticipate that happening but he also stressed that the town is not simply reacting, going from fix to fix: they do have a long-term plan.

“As part of this process we are also looking at other wells,” Beder said. “We are going to Town Meeting with a proposal for an updated water system master plan that will try to address the town’s water needs five, ten and up to 15 years down the road.”

Included in that master plan is finding a way to address the state’s demands that, even as it expands its water resources, Plymouth is being asked to reduce its per person water usage.

Plymouth is not being singled out: the state wants everyone to reduce their per capita water consumption. But Beder and other town officials argue that Plymouth’s growth would be unfairly limited by arbitrary reductions.

It’s quite the balancing act.

But right now everything depends on - and is waiting for - the analysis of the test well data.

“I expect that data in the next few weeks,” Beder said. “Then we’ll meet with the Department of Environmental Protection and then sit down and try to answer everyone’s questions.”